


Friending

by alyjude_sideburns



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Ficlet, First Time, Humor, M/M, Moonridge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-11 13:47:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1173797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyjude_sideburns/pseuds/alyjude_sideburns





	Friending

  

 

  
Jim sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. While it booted up, he went through his mail and, disgusted, set aside no fewer than seven (seven?) letters addressed to his partner. All of them stunk to high heaven thanks to having been doused in everything from Chanel No. 5 to Joy. Sneezing, he cursed the day Sandburg had come into his life, but quickly rescinded the curse. Still… seven letters?

_"You have mail, Sir."_

Damn that stupid little butler Sandburg had talked him into using. He quickly opened the email program and frowned when he spotted the first mail icon and sender. Blair didn't usually email him at work so this wasn't a good sign. He opened it and started to read.

_Hey, man! Wanted to let you know that I plan on friending you later today. Being the intrepid tekkie that you are, this could be fun. BTW: Won't be in today, just got word of a huge TA confab. Supposed to last until four. Sorry, man. See you at home. And be careful, you jerk!_

Smiling at Blair's version of an endearment, he re-read the email and frowned. Friending him? How the hell do you "friend" someone? Was this some new slang term he should know? And slang for what? He drummed his fingers on the desktop as he re-read the email a third time. He read it a fourth time and this time, tilted his head, closed one eye.

Friending.

F…

"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered. "The guy has finally caught on. Figured it out. Pulled his head out of the ground, the light bulb has gone on over that curly hair of his! Well, hallelujah!"

"Ellison?"

He looked up to see Connor staring at him. Damn, he must have said all of that out loud. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, just talking to myself."

"Well, keep it down, some of us are trying to work, you know?"

"Right."

He looked at his watch. Damn, it was only seven. Which meant nine more hours until he and Sandburg could finally do the horizontal... friending.

***

Blair dumped his stuff and shrugged out of his jacket. "Hey, Jim, man, I'm home. How about going out for dinner?"

"No! And get your skinny ass up here, _now_!"

Confused, Blair stepped back so that he could look up at Jim's bedroom. "Uhm, Jim? Skinny ass?"

"My room, now, Sandburg!"

Okay, what the hell was up with his partner? What could have gone wrong today, and why did these things always happen on days when he couldn't be at the station? And how was what happened on those days his fault if he wasn't even there? He started up the stairs and hoped Jim was all right.  His voice had sounded all right. No backstory to it, nothing to indicate any pain, but with Jim, you never knew. He hurried his pace and, when he got to the top of the landing, froze.

For just a moment, he thought maybe what he was seeing his fantasy; that it wasn't real. But after blinking a few times and Jim remaining the way he was, Blair finally managed to gulp out, "Jim, you're not--you know…  And why are you in bed? Like that? With--and you're not wearing-- Jim, you're like… naked."

Looking a bit impatient, Jim said, "Sandburg, I know you're weird and all, but even you can't expect us to 'friend' with our clothes on, can you? I mean, sure, in a hurry and all, but we're not in a hurry. We have all the time in the world. And by the way? Congratulations for finally figuring it out. I thought you'd never get it. Now get undressed and into bed."

Sandburg scratched his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Jim. Naked.

Totally cool.

He wasn't sure of the exact whys, but he was never one to question that gift horse.

Blair Sandburg stripped so fast, he made himself dizzy.

***

Nearly asleep, contented and exhausted -- in a good way -- Sandburg rested his head on Jim's damn fine chest. A rumbling under his ear alerted him that Jim was speaking, so he tried to listen.

"So when, exactly, did the good students of Rainier start using 'friending' as a euphemism for sex?"

Blair slowly lifted his head and peered at his partner. He was about to say "Huh?" when it hit him and he started laughing so hard, he had to roll over on his back to keep from choking.

Frowning, Jim said, "Sandburg?"

"I can't believe… oh, God… you and friending?" He started gasping for air so he sat up, but he was still laughing and pointing at Jim as he managed to add, "I… you... friending… I was going to friend you… on my... Live Journal!"

Jim's frown deepened. "Live Journal?"

"Don't play innocent with me. I know you have one.  You joined that Trekkie community; it was your IP address."

Jim closed his eyes. "Sandburg, that wasn't me, it was Rafe. Wednesday? You had to work late but it was poker night here. Rafe used my computer in order to sign up and make his first post during one of the breaks."

"You mean I friended _Rafe_?"

"I sure as hell hope not, considering what I thought it meant," Jim huffed out.

"Well, I'll be damned. So we finally have sex because you're an idiot and not up-to-date on computer-speak?"

"What, you're complaining?"

"Who, me? No way. It was fantastic. Incredible. Stupend--"

Jim shut him up with a kiss. At the same time, he figured they could go on using 'friending' at work as a kind of password. Yeah, a password. The Ellison-Sandburg Friending Club. And they could meet on the roof… but just the two of them. Rafe would have to find a 'friend' on his own - to friend with.

The End


End file.
